Ahh, I see. I considered using that approach but decided not to when I saw that the pics are deleted from the server after a set period of time (usually 30 days) if they are not accessed. I've run into old AARs that just have blanks in them where the screenies should be due to that and it irks me so I decided to use the more permanent solution. I going to try a little experiment though that might let me have it both ways.

I used to use Photobucket, but I dimly recall some limits on how much I could store there, or something. Of late, I've just been using Matrix's one-pic-per-post uploading, but this AAR tempts me to rethink that. I do have access to a friend's web-hosting service; I use it for posting pics on other forums. It's just a bit more work than simply clicking 'embed pic in post' and 'click here to upload' on these forums. :)

But wow, your use of montages really is eye-popping. I will have to try that. Also, how do you get that zoomed-in look for your main galaxy map? OK, that's a dumb question: I guess you just...zoom in, lol. What resolution are you playing in?

I kinda skipped over some elements of your story because I want to avoid spoilers. But I still have the overall thrust. Just tremendous.

Ahh, I see. I considered using that approach but decided not to when I saw that the pics are deleted from the server after a set period of time (usually 30 days) if they are not accessed. I've run into old AARs that just have blanks in them where the screenies should be due to that and it irks me so I decided to use the more permanent solution. I going to try a little experiment though that might let me have it both ways.

I've got images that they've had on that site for several years now. I don't post a lot of images there, so there may be an issue if you try and host too many, but so far I've had no problems with them.

Image Shack will not let you direct link any more. A shame, since I used to use them for AARs back in the dizz-ay.

I have all the images saved to my hard drive, organized so it can be re-produced in a PDF format for posterity should I this ever finish. It's a lot of work making those montages! Takes longer than actually playing the game.

It gives me an idea for my next AAR though.. to do it in a comic-book style format with PDF.

Ahh.. the 2770s. Remember those? Those were the days. Men were real men. Women were real women. And aliens were shining your boots every day during your lunch break. Time to fast-forward in time! In...

Session Nine: We're Not in Eastern Europe Anymore

The 2770s were a golden age of colonization for the Polish Empire, and the entire Human Race! We have managed to establish contact with all of the Empires in our region of Space, as well as build up a massive navy. Our economy seems to fluctuate heavily with the market, but since we are constantly colonizing new worlds nobody is bothered. After all, once these new planets fill up and people start paying taxes, it will all pay for itself right? Our Military strength is utterly unrivalled, though in every other way we are rather backwards. Despite our harsh policy of enslavement towards non-humanoid life (which has turned out to be all life in known space, sadly) the Empires of the region treat us like kings and do not suspect ulterior motives for a moment. The only ones who show any hostility are the Ugnari, who chafe under our constant demands for Tribute to keep our bloated military machine afloat. Some speculate that if the Ugnari economy should fail, then so should ours... we dismiss these ideas.

By the 2780s, the Polish Empire had colonized nearly all the Continental and Marshy Swamp worlds within reach. The Ugnari, to our bafflement, managed to expand well into our zones of control despite the strain that paying tribute was supposed to put on their economy...

By 2783, the map has been clearly drawn out. All of the Empires in the Local Cluster are known to us, and only one presents an immediate threat: Our subjegated Ugnari neighbors. Their military strength is nearly half of ours, but far more than half of our fleet is designed for Defensive warfare. Only the Main Battle Fleet and it's smaller Invasion Flotillas are designed for offensive war. The Grand Strategy is that we can defend our Colonies and Resources indefinitely, but why not have the power to grab a few colonies and damage some gas stations as well? We know already that the Ugnari--the only foe we anticipate having to fight--do not have the guts for prolonged warfare. We intend to exploit this...

Right next door to Polish Space, to the east of the Northern Resource Area, there is world that contains the much-desired Korrabian Spice. Not only would it solve all of our economic woes--which are many at the moment, as we struggle to wait for the population to start covering the cost of our immense Imperial Navy--but taking that world would also deny it to the Ugnari, and give us a chance to weaken them. If we can also take a few worlds near the Northern Sector or the Shandar Zone, all the better. We intend this to be a quick war, but if it does drag out we are confident we can fend off attack indefinitely.

Our Brave and Noble Emperor!

The status of our great Empire. We are mighty, but our economy can only hold out for so long. We have made some money selling technology, but as we are technologically backwards ourselves there are precious few buyers. Korrabian Spice and Ugnari Slaves are the answer!

Here is a map of the Polish Empire and neighboring Space. Notice that world that has a target on its' back...

Yes. We want this very much. And we aim to take it!

Our Navy is immense, but the vast majority of it is built around an intricate defensive network of overlapping zones of control. Only the Main Battle Fleet and two Flotillas carrying 60 Troops are allocated for Offensive purposes. We know we can take the system with the Spice, but we also think we can take several more before we have to back off and regroup. While we're doing that, we have more than enough power on defense!

It's a big galaxy, and we're just one small cluster--but boy, it feels crowded! Nothing even remotely human outside of the Polish Empire. It's going to be a long century.

We are not the biggest Empire. We are not the most advanced, or the wealthiest. We do, however, have an enormous fleet that needs to be put to work in order to pay for itself.

Stay tuned.. it's Poland Into Space! The Same Generation But a Little Later!

The Polish Empire is starting to remind me of Haven in the Honor Harrington books....

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gelatinous Cube

This happened frequently enough in the 2770s that there was an entire genre of holocinema named after it: "Spaghetti Colonizers" They were characterized by low budgets, bad actors, cheezy sound tracks, and lots of bad special effects.

And forgive me for drifting into a gameplay question, but I keep meaning to ask: what do the horizontal colored bars mean in the diplomatic screen? Strategic value? What factors go into calculating strategic value?

And forgive me for drifting into a gameplay question, but I keep meaning to ask: what do the horizontal colored bars mean in the diplomatic screen? Strategic value? What factors go into calculating strategic value?

I remain in the top five, but never higher than number three.

Also, i'm pretty sure the two biggest factors are GDP and Military Strength.

Are you ready for more!? It's time for our next foray into Combat! In...

Session Ten: The Spice Must Flow

We want that spice. No, really. You don't understand. We want that Spice! More importantly, we want to slap these Rats back into their place. We may just be a backwater Empire with a bloated Navy, but darnit.. it's a good Navy! And with a booming population, we need more slaves, as well!

The Main Battle Fleet makes its way towards the Endillean system. A large Ugnari fleet waits...

This is a wealthy system. The aim of this war is simply to capture this entire system, and return the Ugnari to subjegation. We are running out of money fast, and we want this to be a quick war. The fleet enters the system.

As in the first war, we are strong believers in Declarations of War. However, we would compare our philosophy towards diplomacy to that of the NYPD. We knock with nuclear bombs, and then leave a note afterwards with demands for your unconditional surrender.

The battle goes in our favor. The Ugnari hesitate to declare war, at least half of their fleet is destroyed or dispersed in the initial confusion.

As our drop ships land all over the enemy planet, our Ambassador finally delivers the formal declaration of war.

Our plan involves patience. We know we have overwhelming force. We also have an overwhelming amount of troops in nearby systems. There is no reason not to take this one slow, and give each planet the attention it deserves.

There is a brief counter-attack, but against the might of the Main Battle Fleet (who sufferent significant, but not crippling, casualties) they stood no chance. They are routed.

Elsewhere, a predominately human system very near the Ugnari Homeworld revolts, and joins us!

There were counter-offensives all along our borders...

Against our unparalleled Defensive Networks, however, they met a bitter end. The moment they entered our space--and often well before--they were marked for destruction.

After about a year of open warfare (but with no further invasions outside of the Endillean System--which was conquered utterly) that was largely one-sided, the Ugnari once again submit to us.

The Spice will flow...

The Northern Resource Area has a different look, now--but with the addition of the all-important Korabbian Spice it is now even more vital to our Empire!

It is 2785, and we have had nearly 30 years of Interstellar Travel. We can only hope for more success in the future!

Late in the year 2787, to celebrate the upcoming 30th Anniversary of Polish Interstellar Travel, an Interstellar Geographic article chronicles the reaches of the Polish Empire! In...

Interlude: Atlas of the Polish Empire - 2787

The following is brought to you by our Great Leader.

Any tour of the great Polish Empire must begin at Warsaw! A packed planet of well over fifteen billion people, it serves as the epicenter of the Empire's culture and government. However, it cannot claim to hold the Empire together economically. Warsaw is only responsible for about 40% of the Polish Empire's GDP in 2787. These Core Worlds are all highly developed, decently populated, well-defended, and in generally good spirits. The North might be where all the gas is, but the Core Worlds are where all the people are.

Next is the northern expanse. The 2785 Conquest of the Endillean system has brought us unbelievable wealth, and we haven't even begun full-scale exploitation of the Korabbian Spice. By the 2790s, most people believe that everyone will have a table-spoon of Spice with breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Even without the Spice, this is a massively important part of the Empire. It is home to several well-developed worlds, and untold wealth in the form of resources we have really only just begun to exploit. It is the most vulnerable part of our Empire to attack, and so it is defended accordingly. It is hoped that by keeping the Northern Sector under an iron grip, we can keep the more vulnerable Shandar Zone out of any future wars.

And then there's the Shandar Zone. It's been a long time since our Colony Ship first landed on Shandar. We can only speculate as to how much is must have sucked to have been the Shandar that said "Hey, they look alright. Wave em down!" The Shandar Zone has thrived on the Slave Trade. Now that the Slave market is beginning to shift north towards the newly conquered Endillian System, the Shandar Zone is beginning to come into its' own as a population center. By the mid 2790s, we expect this to be as well-defended and profitable as the Core Worlds.

Image Shack will not let you direct link any more. A shame, since I used to use them for AARs back in the dizz-ay.

I have all the images saved to my hard drive, organized so it can be re-produced in a PDF format for posterity should I this ever finish. It's a lot of work making those montages! Takes longer than actually playing the game.

It gives me an idea for my next AAR though.. to do it in a comic-book style format with PDF.

This x100000000000000!!!!!!! I would very much enjoy the hell out of this!

Image Shack will not let you direct link any more. A shame, since I used to use them for AARs back in the dizz-ay.

I simply view my image, then click it to open it full size. then I right click over the image and select properties. The diredt link URL is listed on the properties pop-up, cut and paste it into your document and you're good to go.

Haha :D Ok, as we see, Poland can into space afther all ;) At least in Distant World ;) Great AAR :) I will with pleasure read more of this in future :) If You would like to make this Polish Empire feel more Polish, then I can give You some ideas for Polish names of peoples and places, which could fit to certian things and characters ;)

I also enjoy very much the way You are writing this :) The part where everybody at Warsaw was spying at everybody was just Great! :) I nearly fell down from chair :D:D:D And those maps of Yours are also nice :) Esspecialy those which are labeled and prepare for tourists ;) Really good work! :) Please! Keep it up! :)

Haha :D Ok, as we see, Poland can into space afther all ;) At least in Distant World ;) Great AAR :) I will with pleasure read more of this in future :) If You would like to make this Polish Empire feel more Polish, then I can give You some ideas for Polish names of peoples and places, which could fit to certian things and characters ;)

I also enjoy very much the way You are writing this :) The part where everybody at Warsaw was spying at everybody was just Great! :) I nearly fell down from chair :D:D:D And those maps of Yours are also nice :) Esspecialy those which are labeled and prepare for tourists ;) Really good work! :) Please! Keep it up! :)

Thanks! I'm actually about as far from Polish as you can get, but who would want to read about Oregon into Space!? Poland has been working for this for much longer!

Well the modding - and the game as such - does not support scenario modes... so no, we won't see it like that.

But if you play germany, the geopolitical center of europe, you put yourself into the middle, america into the outer rim (far away from me) and all neighbor nations to a close distance (near me), rest on average distance. By doing that a roughly accurate feeling should emerge. Now you only have to mod the nations to their demands... for example boni for america through gold or to germany through "Krupp-Steel".

Well the modding - and the game as such - does not support scenario modes... so no, we won't see it like that.

But if you play germany, the geopolitical center of europe, you put yourself into the middle, america into the outer rim (far away from me) and all neighbor nations to a close distance (near me), rest on average distance. By doing that a roughly accurate feeling should emerge. Now you only have to mod the nations to their demands... for example boni for america through gold or to germany through "Krupp-Steel".

One time I was quite intoxicated and I thought of this idea for a series based on WW2 Pacific theater but.. IN SPACE! The idea would be to reproduce the events and battles exactly how they happened in history but instead of island chains you have asteroid fields, instead of water you have space, instead of zeroes you have nimble fighter craft and so on. Simply you are adapting history to the very last detail in space.

I know there are some Japanese cartoons about the battleship Yamato but the story is just fiction. SO i dont think anyone has tried something like this before.

Well the modding - and the game as such - does not support scenario modes... so no, we won't see it like that.

But if you play germany, the geopolitical center of europe, you put yourself into the middle, america into the outer rim (far away from me) and all neighbor nations to a close distance (near me), rest on average distance. By doing that a roughly accurate feeling should emerge. Now you only have to mod the nations to their demands... for example boni for america through gold or to germany through "Krupp-Steel".

One time I was quite intoxicated and I thought of this idea for a series based on WW2 Pacific theater but.. IN SPACE! The idea would be to reproduce the events and battles exactly how they happened in history but instead of island chains you have asteroid fields, instead of water you have space, instead of zeroes you have nimble fighter craft and so on. Simply you are adapting history to the very last detail in space.

I know there are some Japanese cartoons about the battleship Yamato but the story is just fiction. SO i dont think anyone has tried something like this before.

Mobile Suit Gundam (One Year War) obviously was inpired by WWII. Although events aren't exactly the same, the circumstances are similar.

Haha I instantly recognized that first flag. Oregon is da bomb! whoop whoop

Indeed it is! Although for some reason, we Oregonians don't last long in the military. I saw way more Oregonians come and go than was proportionally correct, given we have only about 3 and a half Million people in this state.